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The implementing organizations of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program - EX Pillar 4 (CAADP-XP4) met in Nairobi, Kenya, from January 31 to February 5, 2022, to review progress and plan joint activities for 2022.

Five major African agricultural research and development players are implementing CAADP-XP4: the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (ASARECA), the Coordination Centre for Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) and the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF).

The main objective of the meeting focused on three main points:

• Assess progress in implementing the CAADP-XP4 project; 
• Take stock of lessons learned; and 
• Jointly plan project implementation and deepen collaboration in 2022 with the strategic orientations of the Technical and Advisory Committees.

At just over halfway through the life of the project, we find that the overall cumulative performance of CAADP-XP4 is 66%."

said Dr Emmanuel NJUKWE, Director of Research and Innovation at CORAF.

"This performance was achieved thanks to the hard work of all the organizations involved in implementation, as well as the support and involvement of all stakeholders," he commented. 

As for the project's financial performance, the evidence showed that it followed the same trend as the project's overall cumulative performance. 

"The consortium's expenditure at December 31, 2021, as a percentage of the total amount disbursed, is 66%, while CORAF's expenditure at the same date is 68%", said Dr NJUKWE.

Implementation challenges

Like its implementing counterparts, CORAF has encountered a number of difficulties in implementing the program.

"The COVID-19 pandemic was a major challenge for CORAF, as it was for the other organizations involved in implementation", said Mr Maurice LORKA, CAADP-XP4 Coordinator at CORAF.

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, partners also pointed to the lack of visibility of CAADP-XP4 at the level of European Union delegations in the countries, as well as delays in the implementation of joint activities, among many other challenges. 

Faced with these challenges, the five organizations agreed that Consensus building is critical for implementation of joint activities. 

Faced with these challenges, the five organizations brainstormed and agreed on ways to overcome them and achieve the project's objectives.

Planning joint activities

CAADP-XP4 implementing partners also took the opportunity of the Nairobi meeting to reflect on the next steps, in the short and medium term.

To facilitate the planning and implementation of joint activities, CAADP-XP4 implementing partners have set up five technical working groups on identified thematic issues: policy and gender, partnerships and resource mobilization, knowledge management and communication, monitoring and evaluation, and capacity building.

A number of key activities to be carried out in 2022 have been identified, under the leadership of one or more designated consortium members.

For example, CORAF and AFASS will lead the development of a joint knowledge management proposal for funding. CORAF will also take the lead on joint policy and gender activities, while CCARDESA will lead the mapping of satellite data sources.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is in charge of organizing mid-term evaluation and impact studies for CAADP-XP4, between the last week of April and the first week of May. IFAD is the organization responsible for managing the project's resources.

CAADP-XP4 is part of the Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) program, a 57-month EU-funded initiative that had started in March 2019.

In addition to CAADP-XP4, CORAF is implementing two (02) other DeSIRA projects, namely the Strengthening Networks and Institutional Capacities in Plant Breeding for the Development of Resilient Crops to Meet the Needs of West African Farmers (ABEE) project, and the Anticipating and Managing Biological Risks to Strengthen Farmers' Resilience to Climate Change in West and Central Africa (Biorisks) project.

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• Strengthening climate resilience in Central African states